Wednesday, December 6, 2017

Senate Pre-Filed Bills

The list of Senate pre-filed bills is here.  You’ll notice that the senators each filed three bills at a time, in order of seniority.  This is the pecking order as bills will be read in, referred to committee and start their journey toward TAFP.

Word is that Pro Tem Ron Richard is hoping to keep the bill train moving reliably during the opening month and see that each Republican senator has two priority bills ready for floor time early in session.   Also note, nothing filed by Sen. Rob Schaaf.  It appears he’ll be playing defense full-time.

Here’s a glance at the first three bills filed by each senator to give you a sense of priorities.

Ron Richard - Reduces historic tax credits to pay for the Capitol Complex Fund.

Brian Munzlinger – tort reform, industrial hemp, and keeping State Tax Commission from raising land values of rural Missouri.

Jay Wasson – Missouri Works, and Missouri Works Training.

Bob Dixon – various law enforcement changes, various municipal courts changes, add Springfield to Neighborhood Restoration Act.

Dan Brown – prevailing wage repeal, freedom riders helmet-less, and a new tax credit for Love INC.

Maria Chappelle-Nadal – contaminated homes, school transfer fix, racial profiling.

David Sater – work requirements for SNAP, require DSS to apply for Medicaid waiver, changes eligibility for MORX Plan.

Ed Emery – utility regulatory reform, tuition tax credit, impeachment process.

Mike Cunningham – circuit-breaker change, salaries for county sheriffs and county commissioners, trustee immunity on investment decisions by others.

Ryan Silvey - workers' compensation for firefighters, adds computer science credit, utility regulation reform.

Wayne Wallingford - Allows an income tax deduction for military personnel, mandated reporting requirements for sexual assault victims in long-term care facilities, managed care plan’s adequacy.

Gary Romine – changes to Missouri Virtual Instruction Program, changes to to degree offerings at public institutions of higher education, strengthens arbitration agreements between employers and at-will employees.

Doug Libla - crimes against emergency service providers, legal notices on SOS website, repeals provisions requiring a landlord to keep security deposits in a trust.

Gina Walsh - require school districts to report breaches of data.

Jamilah Nasheed – city workhouse reform, dealing with confederate stuff, anti-discrimination.

Jason Holsman - creates Joint Committee on Disaster Preparedness.

Scott Sifton – big education bill, gift ban, increased penalties for the distribution of heroin.

Dan Hegeman – tax credit caps, election process.

Paul Wieland - financial solvency of insurance companies, exempts some commercial insurance lines from filing requirements, repeals death penalty.

Jeanie Riddle – tort reform, chiropractors added to MO HealthNet services, MoDOT utility corridor to 12 feet.

Dave Schatz – prevailing wage, regulate professional employer organizations, workers' compensation changes.

Bob Onder – public sector collective bargaining, virtual education, human trafficking.

Jill Schupp – Housing discrimination, tax credit for emergency generators, Missouri Earned Family and Medical Leave Program.

Denny Hoskins - Business Premises Safety Act, prevailing wage, no SNAP if delinquent in child support.

Andrew Koenig – tax reform, tuition tax credit, deregulating hair braiding.

Caleb Rowden – bans lobbyist expenditures for public officials, Missouri Earned Income Tax Credit, prohibits law enforcement and emergency personnel peer support specialists from disclosing confidential information.

Bill Eigel – tax reform plan, charter school expansion, Highways and Transportation Commission bonding.

Jake Hummel – anti-discrimination, workers' compensation for firefighters, "Alexandra and Brayden Anderson Electric Shock Drowning Prevention Act."

Sandy Crawford – foreclosure proceedings, modify outdoor advertising laws.

Mike Cierpiot - sales and use tax change.

Q&A #1: Is Education Reform Sidetracked for 2018?

Short answer: “The lines haven’t changed.”

There’s been some consternation among education reformers that the governor’s bungling of the State Board of Education – five misfired appointments in what should have been gimmes – has made the legislative reform agenda a bigger target for critics.

In talking with a few folks who lobby the issue, they yawned at that worry.  The key line from one of them: “The lines haven’t changes.”  In other words, no one who was in one camp or the other is switching sides over governor’s bumbling.

But – those “lines” in the trench warfare of education policy still favor the “establishment.”

This is a repeat blurb from a few weeks ago – worth repeating… “In rural Missouri, local school districts are among the largest community payrolls and more than that, local schools are the small towns’ sinew and circulatory systems, dominating the culture as much as churches (more on football and basketball game nights). Superintendents are mostly respected figures. This is real grassroots stuff. Rural lawmakers are on the hot seat to disavow Greitens…”

For years Republican campaigns for state House have drawn on local schools for their candidates.  Very successfully they have recruited teachers, coaches, and administrators, who are well-known, respected and loved in their community.

That has created a cadre of Republican legislators in Jefferson City who are skeptical of the choice movement.

So while the lines might not have changed, it’s possible they’ve hardened a bit with this latest drama.

And Education Bits

The State Board of Education announced it will hold a meeting next Wednesday – December 14 – to discuss the process for finding a new commissioner.

The mighty Jason Rosenbaum interviews SBOE member Eddy Justice.  See it here.  Justice sees a national search for Vandeven’s replacement.

And…. in a Phill Brooks column, Margie Vandeven says she’s not ruling out returning as commissioner if the legal challenges to the SBOE succeed and her ousting is declared illegal.  See it here.

Rumorville: Lamprich Looks at House 81

Lori Lamprich is said to be looking at running for House 81.  This is where Rep. Fred Wessels has decided not to seek re-election.  Lamprich is a committeewoman and has served as campaign manager for several Dem candidates over the years.

If she runs, she’ll face Steve Butz who ran and lost to Wessels in 2016, placing second in a three-way primary with 35%.

Tesla Scores Court Win

Tesla won a big battle in its war against the Missouri Auto Dealers Association.  See the court ruling here.  From Post-Dispatch article:  The Missouri Court of Appeals, Western District, reversed a lower court’s decision.. In 2015, the Missouri Auto Dealers Association sued the Missouri Department of Revenue, alleging that the way Tesla sells vehicles violates state law. The following year, Cole County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Green ruled that Tesla is not a franchisee and its motor vehicle dealer licenses should not be renewed by the Missouri Department of Revenue… The appellate court ruled Tuesday that MADA, a Jefferson City-based trade group that represents new-car and new-truck dealers, lacked standing to sue, reversed the trial court’s judgment and dismissed the petition… MADA said it “will continue to explore the legal avenues available” to support its position.

Eyes on MOSEN

From NYTimes… On Tuesday, the president; the vice president; John F. Kelly, the White House chief of staff; Rick Dearborn, a deputy chief of staff; and Mr. Stepien met in the Oval Office to discuss the 2018 landscape in detail, the official said. An extensive focus was on the Senate races, including in states like Arizona and Missouri.

New Committees

Lucas Dieckhaus formed a candidate committee (Missourians For Dieckhaus) to run for House 109 as a Republican.

Today’s Events

From Mary Scruggs’ indispensable calendar:

ALEC Policy Summit – Nashville, Tennessee

Rep. Bruce Franks Bowl-O-Rama – Tropicana Lanes, St. Louis – 5PM.

Lobbyists Registrations

Andrew Blunt and Noel Torpey added Tenaska.

William Luetkenhaus added Mci2, Operating Systems LLC.

Norbert Plassmeyer added Jefferson Barracks POW-MIA Museum.

Sarah Schlemeier added Missouri Railroad Association.

Lana Skelo and Glenn Spencer added US Chamber Institute for Legal Reform.

David Sweeney added Ashley Energy.

Thomas Holloway deleted Missouri State Medical Association.

James Grice deleted Commerce Tower Group.

$5K+ Contributions

Missouri Republican Leadership PAC - $10,000 from Leggett & Platt Inc.

A Better Missouri Political Action Committee - $8,000 from Anheuser-Busch Cos.

Midwest Region Laborers’ Political League Education Fund - $8,026 from Laborers Supplemental Dues Fund.

Birthdays

Happy birthdays to Joe Bednar.